Bottle hooding device



July 31, 1934- l P. LANG-HAMMER ET AL v1,968,211

BOTTLE HOODING DEVICE Filed sept. 11, 1953 LAY Patented July 31, 1934` UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BOTTLE noonmG DEvIcE Application September 11, 1933, Serial No. 688,874

4Claims.

'10 invention to avoid. Among the speciiic diiculties presented by these hand tools was the amount of strength necessary to operate them, a factor much improved by the operating mechanism employed in thev present invention. Another -diiliculty in the operation of the former deviceswas the large amount of stretch which it was necessary to give to the band before snapping it onto the bottle neck.l Still another 'advantage presented by our invention is that the weight of the device assists in its operation, a matter of Imuch consequence where the device is to be carried and operated by the hand. Additional features of the present invention will be found in the simplicity, reliability of operation, and absence of accident hazards, which the new device provides. The manner in which these several objects are attained will appear in the following description and claims.

Referring to the drawing, l Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a hooding tool constructed in accordance with the invention., the parts being shown in inactive position, and the right half of the tool being shown in median section;

Fig. 2 is a. section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a side elevation corresponding to a portion of Fig. 1 but with the parts in their other extreme position of operation.

The die for shaping the paper or Cellophane blank to the neck of the bottle 10 is shown at 11, having a lower cavity 12 adapted to t over the bottle mouth in order to turn down the skirt of the hood. A hub 13 on the upper side of the die is bored to receive the lower end of a cylindrical -.member 14 having a'plurality of circumferential flanges 15, and serving as a cylindrical rack. A screw 16 secures the die 11 and the rack 14 together. The rack 14 is carried by the lower end of a rod 17, being secured in place as by a pin 18.

The top of rod 17 is threaded to receive a pair of nuts 20 acting as an abutment limiting the upward travel with respect to the rod of a cylindrical slide 21, which is constantly urged towards the nuts by a spring 22 compressed between the slide and a collar 23 suitably' secured to the rod.

The slide 21 serves to space froml the rod a bandretaining sleeve 25, the slide and sleeve being threaded together at 26. At its lower end the sleeve is brazed at 27 to a casting or support 28 which carries the band-applying ngers 29 and which slides upon the outer surfaces of the cylindrical rack 14 and of the hub 13. Each of these ngers, of which there are six in the case shown, is pivoted on a pin 30 extending between flanges 31 on the support 28.' Upon their inner ends the 5 fingers each bear a segmental gear 32 meshing with the rack 14, sa that the fingers will be rctated between the positions of Figs. 1 and 3 upon relative axial movement of the tube and rod. The outer surfaces of the ngers are smooth, so as to form collectively a conical slide for the bands b when they are moved into the position of Fig. 3. When the ngers are in their inactive positions of Fig. 1 theirupper' ends, which are bent to form band-engaging prongs 33, extend into slots 34 in the tube.

To the inside of the tube 25 are screwed at 35 a plurality of springs 36, the ends of which are bent at 37 to form detents for holding up the stack of bands b asshown in Fig. 3. Access to the screws 35 may be had through holes in the tube made directly opposite each screw, and not appearing in the drawing on account of the angle at which the views are taken. The springs -are free to move in the slots 34 under the iniluence of a cam cylinder 38 pinned at 39 to the rod 17, and having its upper surface lbeveled to coact with bent portions 4G of the springs.

For operating the device a handle 45 is fitted to slip overthe upper endof the tube 25, being o made hollowv to permit therod 17to pass into it, and being held releasably in position by a clamp screw 46 acting upon its lower split end. The bands b are preferably supplied in a tube l or cylinder i'orm made by lightly cementing orl securing by a mild adhesive a cylindrical stack of bands. These bands may thus be handled as a single tubular unit in'applying them over the tube 25, and are vseparated as required by the iingers 29. In placing a stack of bands onv the tube 25 the handle 45 is removed, the stack is slipped over the tube untilvthe lowermost band rests against the flat upper side 47 of the support 28, and the handle is then replaced. The tool is shown in this condition in Fig. 1. A hood blank is placed manually or by other means over the head of the bottle, and the die' 11 positioned on top of it. As the handle 45 is pushed down the die will be brought over the bottle mouth, giving a preliminary crimping and forming to the blank, the spring 22 being strong enough so that the rod 17 and the tube 25 move as a unit during this much of the operation.-

When the die is fully seated on the bottle the rod stops, further downward pressure on the handle resulting in the tube 25 and the support 28 moving downwardly With respect to the rod 17 and the rack 14 attached to it. By this relative motion the fingers 29 are swung outwardly and the detents 37 are pushed out by the contact of the bent portions of springs 36 with the cylindrical cam 38. The prongs 33 on the fingers engage the lowermost band only and, by stretching it, free it from its mild adhesion to the remainder of the stack. The detents at the same time extend underneath the stack as shown in Fig.l3, supporting it at an elevation which will permit the fingers to clear it on its return stroke.' When the fingers reach about the position of Fig. 3 the elasticity of' the band overcomes its friction on the fingers, causing the band to-slide down the fingers and to snap olf their free lower ends onto the neck of the bottle around the hood. Upon the removal of .pressure on the handle the spring 22 will cause the tube 25 and the support 28 to be elevated, swinging the fingers back into the slots 34 underneath the elevated stack of bands, and finally causing the detents to be drawn inwardly by the action of their springs 36. The stack then drops onto the shoulder 47 ready for the next operation.

Several features of improvement over prior devices intended for the same general purpose can now be made clear. vIn prior devices the tilting or expanding of the fingers was accomplished by a linkage, the pivots of which were of necessity mounted closely adjacent the axis of the device. The space requirements for these pivots was such that a maximum of four expanding fingers could be used. In the present device the use of segmental gears in combination with the cylindrical rack permits the pivots of the fingers to be moved away from the axis a considerable distance, and there are no toggle link pivots to be considered. The use of six or more fingers is thus made possible, with a closer approach to a circular shape in the expanded band. The nearer the shape of the band is made circular the more readily can it be handled, for not only is the stretching more y uniform but the chordal portions of the band are removed further from the axis of the device. 'Ihe power required to move the fingers is in this case less than has formerly been necessary, because of the lesser amount of stretch necessary `to impart to the band on account of its more nearly circular shape, the fact that the weight of the device assists in its operation, and on account 4of the variability of the power transmission characteristics of a linkage indifferent positions. No external gap being left between the bands must slide in 'their course down to the.

bottle neck. Failures of operation due to catching of the band on one of these joints is by this means avoided.

We claim: l

1. A bottle hooding device comprising a. bandreceiving tube, band-expanding fingers carried by the tube, a rod extending through the tube, a hood forming die carried by the rod, and connections between the rod and the fingers operative on depression of the tube to shift the fingers from band-receiving position to a position where the band will slide from them onto vthe neck of the bottle. f

2. A bottle hooding device comprising a bandreceiving tube, band-expanding fingers carried by the tube, a rod extending through the tube, a

circular rack carried by the lower end of the rod,

a hood forming die carried by the lower end of the rod, and segmental gears carried by the flngers and engaging with the, circular rack whereby the fingers will be shifted on depression of the tube from band-receiving position to a position where the band will slide from them onto the' neck of the bottle.

3. A bottle hooding device comprising a bandreceiving tube, band-expanding fingers carried by the tube, a rod extending through the tube, a hood forming die carried by the rod, a hollow handle releasably attached to the tube and into vwhich the rod may pass, and connections between the rod and the fingers operative on depression of the tube and handle to shift the fingers from band-receiving position to a position where the band will slide from them onto the neck of a bottle. y

4. A bottle hooding device comprising a band support, a circumferential seriesA of fingers each pivoted at an intermediate point of its length with free portions of the finger at each side of the pivot, and means for rocking the fingers simultaneously about their pivots from a position where they form a cone converging towards the band support to a position where they form a cone converging at their opposite ends, with said ends positioned freely .in position for a bandto slide therefrom directly tion.

PAUL LANGHAMMER. STEPHEN M. BODOLAY.

into `freely released posi- 

